Magnetic thermocouple device

ABSTRACT

A non-magnetic metal wire is wound around a dissimilar magnetic metal core member in magnetic inductive relation and the dissimilar metals are connected at spaced junctions. A difference in temperatures between the junctions results in the magnetization of the magnetic metal. When one junction of the device is heated, for example, the magnetic metal, for example a ferro-magnetic metal, provides a magnetic field.

United States Patent 1 Kanter Dec. 4, 1973 [54] MAGNETIC THERMOCOUPLE DEVICE 2,443,641 6/1948 Ray 136/217 2,747,074 5/1956 Finch 136/228 [76] Inventor Jerome Kame" 12300 Hobart 2,794,844 6/1957 Comeil 136/228 Ave, Palos Park, 111. 60464 [22] Filed: 1972 Primary Examiner-Harvey E. Behrend [21] Appl. No.: 218,131 Att0rney-Jack C. Berenzweig Related US. Application Data Continuatiomin-part of Ser. No. 783,486, Dec. 13, 1968', abandoned. V

US. Cl 136/228, 136/200, 136/217, 136/241, 310/4, 335/219 Int. Cl H01v 1/14 Field of Search 136/200, 217-220, 136/228, 207, 208, 202, 241; 335/219; 310/4 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 7/1889 Acheson 136/200 A non-magnetic metal wire is wound around a dissimilar magnetic metal core member in magnetic inductive relation and the dissimilar metals are connected at spaced junctions. A difference in temperatures between the junctions results in the magnetization of the magnetic metal. When one junction of the device is heated, for example, the magnetic metal, for example a ferro-magnetic metal, provides a magnetic field ABSTRACT 12 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures 1 MAGNETIC THERMOCOUPLE DEVICE This application is a continuation-in-part of applica tion Ser. No. 783,486, filed Dec. 13, 1968, now abandoned.

The invention relates to the art of thermo-magnetism and has reference more particularly to the production of magnetic force from heat.

The various schemes of heat energy conversion for obtaining electrical energy are unnecessarily complex, costly and inefficient. The best efficiency using the combination steam-turbine cycles are of the order of thirty per cent. The best conversion to be had through the most advanced and costly thermoelectric devices is around ten per cent. The present concepts for nuclear energy power plant conversion are about one per cent efficient. Battery fuel cells are also costly and inefficient in their present state of development.

The main objective of the present invention is to utilize the thermocouple principle so that magnetic energy will be produced directly from the electric energy caused to flow due to the heating of one junction of the dissimilar metals and wherein the cost factor will be relatively low considering the high efficiency and simplicity of the device.

A more specific object of the invention resides in the provision of a thermocouple-type wherein one member consists of metal of a magnetic property encircled with a non-magnetic electrically conductive member. The arrangement becomes an electromagnetic device when there is a temperature difference between the hot and cold junctions.

Another object is to provide a thermocouple-type device wherein a non-magnetic metal wire is wound around a magnetic metal core member in magnetic inductive relationship and wherein the magnetic core member has high magnetic induction characteristics and which is coated on its surface for insulating the metal core member from the metal wire winding, the said coating remaining non-conductive at elevated temperatures.

A still further object is to provide a thermocoupletype device which is capable of functioning as a motor.

With these and various other objects in view, the invention may consist of certain novel features of construction and operation, as will be more fully described and particularly pointed out in the specification, drawings and claims appended thereto.

In the drawings which illustrate an embodiment of the device and wherein like reference characters are used to designate like parts FIG. 1 is a schematic view illustrating the basic ele ments of a thermocouple device coming within the invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view illustrating one method of heating the hot junction of the arrangement as shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is another schematic view illustrating a modified'form of thermocouple with heating means and which comes within the invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view illustrating the thermocouple device of the present invention used as a motor;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view illustrating the thermocouple device of the present invention used as another form of motor.

Briefly stated, the present invention provides magnetic force in a thermocouple type arrangement when one junction is heated. Referring now to FIG. 1, which constitutes a preferred embodiment of the invention, there is shown a thermomagnet 9. The thermomagnet 9 comprises a metal core member 10 wound with a wire winding 12, one junction between the metal core mem' ber 10 and the wire winding 12 is made at the top end of the core member 10 as at 13 and this end is formed integral with the top cap 14. The other junction is made at 15 at the bottom of the core member 10.

The metal core 10 is any metal or metal alloy having magnetic properties, for example, the ferro-magnetic metals iron and nickel. Ferrous base metal cores having magnetic properties will be preferred for many uses be: cause of their relatively inexpensive cost.

The winding 12 which is wound around the outside of the central core member 10 is non-magnetic and any wire of good conductivity and having non-magnetic properties can be used. However, copper wire will be preferred for many purposes. The surface of the metal core member 10 should be electrically insulated from the winding 12. One way in which to accomplish this is to siliconize the surface of the core member 10 in accordance with well-known siliconizing techniques. The siliconized surface is desirable for increasing the insulating effect between the core member 10 and the winding 12. Also in accordance with the invention the core member may be coated with a material which additionally and completely insulates the core member 10 from the winding 12. The surface of the core member 10 may then be coated with an oxide such as a stable dielectric oxide coating and which will insulate and remain non-conductive and, therefore, a good insulator even at elevated temperatures.

In FIG. 2 a gas supply pipe 16 which produces a gas flame 17 is directed onto the top surface of the cap of the thermomagnet 9. This functions to heat the junction 13 but the junction is adequately protected from direct impingement by the gas flame. This heating of the hot junction 13, with junction 15 remaining cold, will cause an electric current to flow in the winding 12 and longitudinally of the core member 10. This current excites an electromagnetic force in the plane normal to the direction of the electric current. An armature 18 is attracted and may be caused to do work. It has been found that the magnetic strength is related to the temperature difference between the hot and cold junctions. Also the thermoelectric power of such a couple may be multiplied by a series connection of such couples, and hence the magnetic induction may be strengthened.

It will be obvious to one skilled in the art that any method for heating the hot junction 13 may be utilized and while applicant has disclosed the use of a gas flame for heating this same effect may be accomplished through the use of solar heat, nuclear heat, electric heat and the like.

The efficient temperature range for such a thermomagnet 9 described above may be anywhere within the Curie temperature range of the magnetic metal core member and within a range normally containing no thermoelectric inversions. Thus the temperature may range from absolute zero to the Curie point. It will also be obvious to one skilled in the art that since the magnetic effect described above is due in part to a temperature differential that this effect may be produced by lowering the temperature of one of the junctions 13 or 15 rather than raising the temperature. It has been found that the optimum magnetic field is produced when the temperature of one of the junctions is lowered to cryogenic temperatures.

Various mechanisms and arrangements may be devised to maintain the desired temperature gradient be* tween the poles of the thermomagnet. For example, the hot end of the couple might incorporate a suitable amount of a fissionable material as a heat source. Thus the arrangement of the invention will achieve the direct conversion of the heat from the fissionable material to mechanical motion without the intervention of water to steam and then steam expansion to motion, with the thermodynamic limitations of such a system.

It is obvious that there can be numerous useful applications of the device here described and it may be fashioned in many forms using innumerable thermocouple combinations with one member magnetic and the other relatively non-magnetic. Since like poles of a thermomagneto repel and unlike poles attract, an arrangement might be devised to derive motion from thermomagnetos which would be analogous to that of the pendulum clock. Like poles of suspended magnets bob to and from like pendulums. As described above, various mechanisms and arrangements may be devised to maintain desired temperature gradients between the poles of the thermomagnets.

More importantly, the thermomagnet 9 described above may be used as an electric motor wherein commutative relations can be devised between the stator and rotor magnetic fields. It is well known in the art that a D.C. motor may be constructed by placing a conductor in a constant magnetic field and by continually reversing the current in that conductor. To that effect, the thermomagnet 9 of the present invention may be used to provide current for an armature which is placed in a magnetic field. In addition, the thermomagnet 9 may also be used to produce the magnetic field.

Referring now to FIG. 4 there is shown a D.C. motor 19 which utilizes the thermomagnet 9. The D.C. motor 19 comprises a permanent magnet 24 which produces a constant magnetic field and which functions as a conventional stator. The armature 18 of the motor 119 is identical to the armature 18, of the thermomagnet 9 described above in connection with FIGS. 2 and 3. A conventional commutator 22 is provided on the armature 18. The commutator 22 may comprise a slip ring and brushes or any other type of commutator. Constant current is provided to the armature 18 by a lead 20. The lead is connected to the winding 12 of the thermomagnet 9.

As current is produced by the thermomagnet 9, a current flows through the armature lead 29. This passes through the constant magnetic field produced by the permanent magnet 24. As the current through the lead 20 is reversed by the commutators 22, the armature I8 is caused to rotate thereby producing a D.C. motor.

Referring to FIG. 5, a second D.C. motor 29 is shown. The motor 2Q is identical to the motor 19 except that the constant magnetic field is produced by using one or more thermomagnets 9b and c in place of the permanent magnet 24. Moreover, it is obvious that the thermomagnet 9a may be eliminated by connecting the lead 20 to either of the windings 12 associated with the thermomagnets 9b and 90.

Obviously, many other types of motors, as well as generators, may be constructed in accordance with the teachings of the present invention and it will be readily recognized that the present invention may be employed whenever the need arises to induce a magnetic field.

The theory of operation of the thermomagnet of the invention has not been fully explored and any explanation as to the operation herein is only to assist in the disclosure of the invention and should not be construed as a limitation thereof.

Nernst in 1886 discovered that if heat flows through a strip of metal and the metal is placed in a magnetic field perpendicular to its plane, a difference in electrical potential develops between its opposite edges. This phenomenon, known as the Nernst effect, is analogous to the Hall effect, and related to the Ettingshauser and Righi-Leduc effects. The phenomenon embodied in the device of the present invention, the Kanter effect, may or may not be related to the Nernst effect, or may be explained by electro-magnetic induction.

It should be understood, of course, that the foregoing disclosure relates to only a preferred embodiment of the invention and that numerous modifications or alterations may be made therein without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

The embodiment of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. In a thermocouple arrangement, in combination, a first member of metal having good magnetic characteristics, a second member of metal and which is wound around the first metal member forsubstantially the length thereof to produce an effective electromotive force, whereby the second metal member is in good inductive relation with the first metal member, said second metal member comprising a metal wire having good conductivity but which is non-magnetic, said second metal member being joined at its ends to the respective ends of the first metal member to form a hot junction at one end and a cold junction at the opposite end, said first member being electrically insulated from said second member, and means for heating the said hot junction end of the first metal member.

2. A thermocouple arrangement according to claim 3 wherein the hot junction end of the first metal member terminates in a cap member, and wherein the means for heating the hot junction end is applied to the said cap member.

3. A thermocouple arrangement according to claim 1 wherein the first member is in the form of an elongated magnet formed of iron of good conductivity and high induction characteristics, and wherein the second member consists of copper wire.

4. A thermocouple arrangement according to claim 1 additionally including a coating on the surface of the first metal member for insulating the said first member from the second member which is wound thereon in good inductive relation.

5. A thermocouple arrangement according to claim 1 additionally including a coating of a stable dielectric oxide on the surface of the first metal member for insulating the said first member from the second member which is wound thereon in good inductive relation, the said stable dielectric oxide coating insulating the first metal member even at elevated temperatures.

6. In a thermocouple arrangement, in combination, a first member in the form of an elongated iron magnet having good magnetic characteristics, a second memher consisting of copper wire and which is nonmagnetic, the second member being wound on the first member in good inductive relation therewith, said copper wire being joined at its ends to the respective ends of the elongated iron magnet to form a hot junction at one end and a cold junction at the opposite end, a cap plate on the terminal end of the iron magnet beyond the hot junction, said first member being electrically insulated from said second member, and heating means for heating the said cap plate whereby to heat the hot junction.

7. A thermocouple arrangement according to claim 1 wherein the surface of the elongated iron magnet is siliconized in order to provide an improved insulating effect between the surface of the iron magnet and the copper wire which is wound thereon in inductive relation.

8. A thermocouple arrangement according to claim 1 wherein the surface of the first member is coated with a stable dielectric oxide for insulating the first member netic material;

a second element wound around said first element and electrically insulated therefrom wherein said second element comprises an electrically conductive material which is nonmagnetic and wherein said second element is physically joined to said first element at a first junction and also physically joined to said first element at a second junction; and

means for causing a temperature differential between said first junction and said second junction whereby a current is caused to flow through said second element thereby producing an electromag netic field.

10. The thermomagnet of claim 9 wherein said second element is wound in good inductive relation with said first element and is electrically insulated from said first element.

11. The thermomagnet of claim 9 wherein said temperature differential is produced by heating said first junction.

12. The thermomagnet of claim 9 wherein said temperature differential is produced by cooling said first junction. 

1. In a thermocouple arrangement, in combination, a first member of metal having good magnetic characteristics, a second member of metal and which is wound around the first metal member for substantially the length thereof to produce an effective electromotive force, whereby the second metal member is in good inductive relation with the first metal member, said second metal member comprising a metal wire having good conductivity but which is non-magnetic, said second metal member being joined at its ends to the respective ends of the first metal member to form a hot junction at one end and a cold junction at the opposite end, said first member being electrically insulated from said second member, and means for heating the said hot junction end of the first metal member.
 2. A thermocouple arrangement according to claim 1 wherein the hot junction end of the first metal member terminates in a cap member, and wherein the means for heating the hot junction end is applied to the said cap member.
 3. A thermocouple arrangement according to claim 1 wherein the first member is in the form of an elongated magnet formed of iron of good conductivity and high induction characteristics, and wherein the second member consists of copper wire.
 4. A thermocouple arrangement according to claim 1 additionally including a coating on the surface of the first metal member for insulating the said first member from the second member which is wound thereon in good inductive relation.
 5. A thermocouple arrangement according to claim 1 additionally including a coating of a stable dielectric oxide on the surface of the first metal member for insulating the said first member from the second member which is wound thereon in good inductive relation, the said stable dielectric oxide coating insulating the first metal member even at elevated temperatures.
 6. In a thermocouple arrangement, in combination, a first member in the form of an elongated iron magnet having good magnetic characteristics, a second member consisting of copper wire and which is nonmagnetic, the second member being wound on the first member in good inductive relation therewith, said copper wire being joined at its ends to the respective ends of the elongated iron magnet to form a hot junction at one end and a cold junction at the opposite end, a cap plate on the terminal end of the iron magnet beyond the hot junction, said first member being electrically insulated from said second member, and heating means for heating the said cap plate whereby to heat the hot junction.
 7. A thermocouple arrangement according to claim 1 wherein the surface of the elongated iron magnet is siliconized in order to provide an improved insulating effect between the surface of the iron magnet and the copper wire which is wound thereon in inductive relation.
 8. A thermocouple arrangement according to claim 1 wherein the surface of the first member is coated with a stable dielectric oxide for insulating the first member from the copper wire wound thereon, and wherein the surface of the elongated first member is siliconized in order to provide an improved insulating effect between the first member and the said copper wire.
 9. A thermomagnet comprising: a first element, said first element comprising a magnetic material; a second element wound around said first element and electrically insulated therefrom wherein said second element comprises an electrically conductive material which is non-magnetic and wherein said second element is physically joined to said first element at a first junction and also physically joined to said first element at a second junction; and means for causing a temperature differential between said first junction and said second junction whereby a current is caused to flow through said second element thereby producing an electromagnetic field.
 10. The thermomagnet of claim 9 wherein said second element is wound in good inductive relation with said first element and is electrically insulated from said first element.
 11. The thermomagnet of claim 9 wherein said temperature differential is produced by heating said first junction.
 12. The thermomagnet of claim 9 wherein said temperature differential is produced by cooling said first junction. 